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For example, President Trump once offered a wildly inflated estimate of the number of immigrants who would be allowed to remain in the United States under President Biden, saying, “We’re letting 18 million people into the country.” “I think by the time he gets out of prison, that number will be 18 million.”
“Wow,” Bartiromo said.
And it worked. There were some awkward edits to the broadcast, with President Trump unmistakably starting to talk about how the 2020 election was stolen, a topic Fox News has learned the hard way not to air. But other than that it was as expected.
Listening to this pattern, the indescribably familiar pattern of Trump talking about what he wants to talk about, the effectiveness of his approach is clear. This is another example of how Trump overwhelms a system that would otherwise be politically disadvantageous to him.
Trump didn’t make much news simply because he did the same thing over and over again. He has indeed indicated he would be happy to see Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel step down, following a sly provocation from Mr. Bartiromo, an obvious candidate for a future vice presidential nomination. He admitted that he has a running mate for vice president. More than that? Same age. News is about what’s new, and Trump specializes in delivering anything but that.
And yet here it was, largely unfiltered, for 30 minutes on FOX News. Here he was talking about how foreign governments are sending criminals north in caravans, as he said when he first announced his candidacy in 2015. He said the situation at the border meant there was a “100 per cent” chance of crime. Although he was open to future terrorist attacks, he maintained that no such attacks occurred during his presidency. (They did.) He claimed that if he had been president, China would never have sent balloons over the United States (allegedly) and that U.S. service members would never have been killed in Jordan. .
Mr. Trump boldly suggested that the rapid turnover seen within his administration was a sign of success and strength, akin to an “apprenticeship.” (His analogy, not mine.) According to Trump, he did and said he would do everything perfectly. Biden has done and will continue to do everything terribly.
Bartiromo just nodded, occasionally asking if Chinese immigrants arriving at the border were “directed by the Communist Party to come here.”
It is not a new observation that President Trump wears out his opponents by repeating himself. He says things so often that once seemed so out of line that people become used to them, if not accepted. As a result, as the fact-checks, counter-arguments, and context become increasingly obsolete, he delivers them to those who are listening, his support base, and those who are still interested and paying attention. That’s what I’m saying.
The Washington Post invented a new category of fact-checking for Trump because he says the same false things so often, but they wake up every day and don’t care that Trump is being dishonest again. Does anyone have the energy to tell people?
Particularly after the 2020 election, there was a movement within the media to be more proactive in ensuring that President Trump could not simply make false claims to viewers and readers, especially about election fraud. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes recently suggested that this impulse has gone too far and that Americans are being shielded from President Trump’s more reactionary and aggressive rhetoric on governance and policy. That will probably change as the campaign progresses, but it’s an interesting point. Many people don’t realize how extreme Trump’s arguments have become.
However, the “who cares” qualifier above should not be ignored. Maria Bartiromo doesn’t seem to care that Trump is saying the wrong things. She doesn’t even seem to care that he’s saying the same wrong things he always says, limiting the ostensible news usefulness of this interview. But that’s not why she’s talking to him. Because that’s not what his supporters want.
Trump went from being a right-wing outrage cover band in 2015 and 2016 to having their own catalog of hits by 2020. Now he’s just a popular figure who repeats the same number over and over with people following him from show to show. He’s Jimmy Buffett. (Sometimes this is literal; his rallies feature groupies who follow him from city to city to get the front seats.) If you hate music, you’re not going to check out a concert.
As a result, those who listen to his interviews, watch Fox News, or otherwise obsess over the former president hear the same claims repeated over and over without context or backlash. Traditional media may sometimes provide some context, but providing it in the same way over and over again is resource-intensive, making it difficult for people who are actively following President Trump to know what he is doing. It’s unlikely you’ll turn to the Washington Post to see if it’s misleading you. they. What’s actually happening at Fox is the opposite of the pattern Hayes focuses on. On Fox, Trump is relentlessly covered and the silence is criticism.
All of these are ways to explain the bubble that Trump and his ideological clique have existed in for some time. But as the presidential campaign progresses, it’s worth repeating. The insensitivity and approachability of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric appeals to those he wants to appeal to and eludes those he wants to avoid.
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